Angels first baseman Albert Pujols recently suffered a partial tear of his left plantar fascia. Dr. Michael McKindley of Progressive Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in Costa Mesa discusses this serious foot injury; what it is and how to treat it.
Plantar Fascia tears are difficult soft tissue injuries to get back from 100%. The plantar fascia is not a muscle, it is connective tissue that helps support the arch. These types of problems can side line athlete for weeks to months and worse cause scenario end a career. The two most important things when you are suffering from a plantar fascia injury is to rest the tissue in a boot or in a non weight bearing position as long as possible to allow the scar tissue to mend the injured tissue. Second is using ASTYM to model the correct scar tissue fibers allowing maximum flexibility and stability of the torn tissue. Without correctly modeling the scar tissue, the rate of re-injury goes up and the rate of full recovery can increase by weeks.
